Kroger (owner of Ralphs Grocery Company)

• Kroger is a supermarket chains that operates throughout the United States.

• The company has a questionable regard for workers, ranging from fruit farmers in Central America to store employees in California, and strikes and discrimination lawsuits have hit the company over their treatment of workers.

• Kroger has made no discernable commitment to selling Fair Trade products.

• Kroger continues to uses unlabeled GMOs in its store brand products, claiming that they pose no threat to human health.

Cincinnati-based Kroger operates over 3,700 grocery stores throughout the United States. In 2006, the company reported revenues of $60.553 billion and employed 290,000 people.

Campaigns

Fair Trade Your Supermarket

Have you ever been frustrated by searching the shelves of your local supermarket for Fair Trade chocolate or sugar…

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Have you ever been frustrated by searching the shelves of your local supermarket for Fair Trade chocolate or sugar, coffee or tea, rice or fresh fruit, only to find none available? Our new campaign gives you the tools you need to join with other Fair Trade advocates around the country, pushing more and more supermarkets to carry products that are certified to be good for people and the planet.

Please follow the link provided to help your Supermarket become Fair Trade.

Ohio Citizen Action is urging Kroger and Wal-Mart to take the lead in making sure the Teflon chemical "C8" is eliminated from food packaging…

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Ohio Citizen Action is urging Kroger and Wal-Mart to take the lead in making sure the Teflon chemical "C8" is eliminated from food packaging. The group is calling on citizens to send an email to H. Lee Scott, President and CEO of Wal-Mart and Kroger CEO David Dillon. The chemical "C8", which is used to make non-stick and greaseproof coatings, has been linked to cancer and reproductive defects and has been found in the blood of 95% of Americans. Take action to support this effort by clicking on the link below.

The No Dirty Gold campaign sponsored by Oxfam America and Earthworks focuses on changing the destructive practices of the gold mining industry by using consumer pressure…

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The No Dirty Gold campaign sponsored by Oxfam America and Earthworks focuses on changing the destructive practices of the gold mining industry by using consumer pressure. Gold mining often destroys clean environments, harms workers, contaminates drinking water and displaces communities simply to supply the developed world's demand for jewelry. No Dirty Gold calls on consumers to sign its campaign pledge and to demand that jewelers source their gold responsibly. Sears/Kmart, JCPenney, Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer Jewelers have been identified as "laggard" retailers that fail to make a commitment to purchasing more responsibly produced gold. Click on the URL below to take action.

Co-op America's ADOPT-A-SUPERMARKET campaign is linking up Fair Trade advocates with stores in their local communities to keep pressure on supermarkets to carry and promote more Fair Trade products…

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Co-op America's ADOPT-A-SUPERMARKET campaign is linking up Fair Trade advocates with stores in their local communities to keep pressure on supermarkets to carry and promote more Fair Trade products. Sign up to Adopt-A-Supermarket today. Tell us which store you are adopting and the location of the store.

Kroger achieved a score of 75 on the Human Rights Campaign 2008 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporations on policie…

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Kroger achieved a score of 75 on the Human Rights Campaign 2008 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. The HRC Corporate Equality Index rated companies on a scale of 0 to 100 percent.

In 2006 Kroger paid its CEO David Dillon $7.47 million dollars after a 16 percent profit rise from 2005…

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In 2006 Kroger paid its CEO David Dillon $7.47 million dollars after a 16 percent profit rise from 2005

-- Associated Press, 05/01/2007

Source URL: none available

After Kroger(Ralphs), Safeway(Vons) and Albertson’s formed a mutual aid agreement during the 2003-2004 United Food and Commercial …

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After Kroger(Ralphs), Safeway(Vons) and Albertson’s formed a mutual aid agreement during the 2003-2004 United Food and Commercial Workers(UFCW) strike and lockout, the California Attorney General brought an antitrust suit against the three chains. The Attorney General alleged that the mutual aid agreement, which sought to mitigate the effects of the strike through profit sharing, “violated antitrust laws and hurt consumers by discouraging competitive pricing.” Despite the pending charges, in 2007 the three chains again threatened to form a mutual aid agreement when it appeared that labor negotiations would break down.

-- Ventura County Star, 04/05/2007

Source URL: none available

Kroger's has the dubious distinction of being named one of the Multinational Monitor's 10 Worst Companies of 2006.…

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Kroger's has the dubious distinction of being named one of the Multinational Monitor's 10 Worst Companies of 2006. According to the Multinational Monitor, a magazine that tracks the actions of multinational corporations, Ralphs Grocery, a division of Kroger's is guilty of one of the biggest union-busting activities in history. Ralphs plead guilty to criminal charges in connection with a 2003 strike, in which it locked out workers and illegally hired union workers to replace the strikers. The charges included falsiying employment records and tax documents. Ralphs was fined $20 million and ordered to pay $50 million in compensation, health benefits and pension funds for its workers. Additionally, the company was put on three-years probation.

Kroger is listed in a Government Accounting Office database of more than 900 publicly traded companies that have restated their fi…

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Kroger is listed in a Government Accounting Office database of more than 900 publicly traded companies that have restated their financial results because of accounting irregularities since the beginning of 1997. Kroger was listed for a 2001 restatement for unspecified issues.

Mini Mart Inc, part of Kroger, has agreed to settle a sexual harassment suit for $225,000.…

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Mini Mart Inc, part of Kroger, has agreed to settle a sexual harassment suit for $225,000. The US Equal Opportunity Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Mini Mart in Denver, alleging that the store manager of Loaf 'N Jug made repeated sexual comments to two women, touched them inappropriately, and even threatened them physically. According to the lawsuit, Mini Mart destroyed surveillance tapes capturing the harassment. The two women, Suzanna Diesing and Sarah Short, were subsequently fired.

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC) filed a class action lawsuit against Kroger for allegedly refusing to consider women for warehouse positions deemed “physically demanding.” The case centers around two women who applied for warehouse positions but despite being qualified and having previous experience, the women were not interviewed and their resumes were discarded before a federally-mandated period had elapsed. The EEOC is seeking other women who were not considered for the position for a class action suit.

-- Houston Chronicle, 05/18/2005

Source URL: none available

In April 2001, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Kroger for allege…

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In April 2001, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Kroger for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The company is accused of harassing a mentally retarded worker into quitting his job as a grocery bagger at a Kroger store in League City, Texas. An investigation by the EEOC claims that managers called the bagger into an office and told him that a customer complained that he had grabbed her child and "done something awful" to her. EEOC attorneys say the employee was not allowed to call his mother and was given the choice of resigning or being arrested. The EEOC said the bagger had moved the child out of the way so he could bag groceries and no harm was done to the child. The child's guardian said she did not notice anything unusual.

A jury awarded six female Kroger employees $30 million to settle a lawsuit in which the women claimed that during the 1990s, a sto…

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A jury awarded six female Kroger employees $30 million to settle a lawsuit in which the women claimed that during the 1990s, a store director touched them inappropriately, abused them verbally and threw phones, shopping carts and mailbags at them. The women said they were transferred to other stores after they complained about the manager's behavior. The jury's award of $5 million to each woman was declared excessive by an appeals judge in 2002, who reduced the amount Kroger would have to pay to $8.25 million

-- Law.com, 07/17/2002

Source URL: none available

Black employees of Kroger subsidiary Dillons supermarkets filed a lawsuit against the company in November 2001 on the grounds of r…

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Black employees of Kroger subsidiary Dillons supermarkets filed a lawsuit against the company in November 2001 on the grounds of racial discrimination. Plaintiffs in the case maintain that Kroger’s policies for promoting staff are designed to exclude minorities.

-- Wichita Business Journal, 11/30/2001

Source URL: none available

Labor

Southern California has witnessed considerable labor tension between grocery chains and the powerful United Food and Commercial Wo…

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Southern California has witnessed considerable labor tension between grocery chains and the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW.) Claiming that Wal-Mart’s lack of union labor is making it impossible to compete—even though Wal-Mart accounts for only one percent of California’s grocery market—Kroger(Ralphs), Albertson’s and Safeway(Vons) have repeatedly attempted to force the union into accepting inferior contracts and sacrificing their healthcare plans. In 2003-2004 Safeway-led efforts to curtail worker’s health plans resulted in a UFCW strike against Safeway, and immediately after the launch of the strike against Safeway, workers were locked out by Albertsons and Krogers, leaving more than 70,000 workers on strike or locked out.

The Ralphs Grocery Co. policy of illegally rehiring workers under false identities during the 2003-2004 California United Food and…

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The Ralphs Grocery Co. policy of illegally rehiring workers under false identities during the 2003-2004 California United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) strike and lockout led to one of the largest criminal settlements ever between a company and a labor union. Ralphs plead guilty to “identity theft, conspiracy and submitting false tax information” in order to avoid trial on a 53 count indictment including the above offenses and other charges. The UFCW and the federal government will divide almost $50 million, most of which will go to compensating union workers for lost wages, as well as repaying the union for lost union dues and financial assistance dispensed during the lockout.

-- San Diego Union-Tribune, 07/01/2006

Source URL: none available

Indiana Kroger's was targeted for a statewide boycott by members of Indiana Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters after the sto…

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Indiana Kroger's was targeted for a statewide boycott by members of Indiana Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters after the store hired non-union contractors in building and renovation work in Kroger stores around the state. A Kroger spokesman said that Kroger's used union carpenters at every area store that has been remodeled since June 2004. According to senior union organizer Will Klein, union carpenters received only "isolated work."

-- Fort Wayne News Sentinel, 02/10/2005

Source URL: none available

In December 2004 Ralphs was one of three supermarket companies that agreed to pay $22.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit b…

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In December 2004 Ralphs was one of three supermarket companies that agreed to pay $22.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by janitors who alleged they were illegally classified as subcontractors and underpaid at hundreds of Southern California stores. The payment will be split over 2,100 janitors who worked at Albertsons, Ralphs Grocery and Vons supermarkets between 1994 and 2001. They will receive payouts ranging from $4,500 to $9,300, depending on where they worked and for how long, according to attorneys. The supermarkets had stated that they weren't responsible for the janitors' schedules. The janitors worked for a national contracting firm, Building One Service Solutions, which used more than 200 subcontractors. The supermarkets agreed three years ago to bring janitors up to union wages by hiring them or hiring union contractors.

-- Associated Press, 12/07/2004

Source URL: none available

Health and Safety

Kroger does not attempt to avoid biotech ingredients, citing the federal government position that genetically engineered foods are…

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Kroger does not attempt to avoid biotech ingredients, citing the federal government position that genetically engineered foods are safe and require no labeling.

-- Sacramento Bee, 06/10/2004

Source URL: none available

In California in January 2004, the Environmental Working Group and the Center for Environmental Health presented a notice of inten…

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In California in January 2004, the Environmental Working Group and the Center for Environmental Health presented a notice of intent to file an anti-toxin lawsuit against two B.C. salmon farms, Marine Harvest and the Stolt Sea Farm group, along with and 48 additional U.S. and Canadian salmon farms, fish processors and grocery chains, including Kroger. These companies have been accused of failing to warn consumers that the fish contain what the two environmental groups define as potentially dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs. The two groups have been petitioning salmon farmers to stop feeding practices that lead to high concentrations of PCBs -- chemicals known to cause cancer, reproductive harm and nervous-system damage.

-- Vancouver Sun, 01/23/2004

Source URL: none available

A 2004 Environmental Working Group Report found that apples in a Kroger grocery store in Decatur, Alabama were contaminated with P…

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A 2004 Environmental Working Group Report found that apples in a Kroger grocery store in Decatur, Alabama were contaminated with PFOA’s— chemicals that contaminate human blood and may contain cancer-causing agents.

At the 2007 Kroger Co. annual meeting, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United Sta…

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At the 2007 Kroger Co. annual meeting, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States criticized Kroger for failing to honor earlier statements regarding improved standards for animal welfare at Kroger meat and dairy suppliers. When Kroger CEO David Dillon insisted that the store was honoring the standards of the Food Marketing Institute, the animal rights groups countered that these voluntary standards constitute the “bare minimum” in terms of humane treatment of animals.